Overlord Season 4 - What We Know So Far
Though the genre has been around for decades, dating back to classic series like "Visions of Escaflowne" and "Inuyasha," isekai anime have become especially popular in recent years. From "That Time I Got Reincarnated Into a Slime" to "Re:Zero — Starting Life in Another World," some of the most successful anime of the past 10 years can be classified under the isekai umbrella.
In short, isekai refers to a fictional story in which a character from one universe, generally resembling that of our own, is transported to an entirely foreign, generally fantastical universe. The word is written 異世界 in Japanese, its first character 異 denoting strange or different, and the latter two, 世界, meaning world.
Premiering in 2015, "Overlord" is among the growing number of popular isekai anime series released over the past decade. Its third season (the most recent) finished airing in 2018. Though years have passed without new "Overlord," the possibility of the show being picked up for a fourth season remains. Here's what we know so far about "Overlord" Season 4.
When will Overlord Season 4 be released?
Currently, "Overlord" studio Madhouse has yet to officially announce a fourth season of the series. That said, there are a few reasons to believe that a Season 4 is in the cards, whether that means a release date in the near future or years from now.
Perhaps the first promising sign that "Overlord" might return for a fourth season occurred at an anime convention in Germany in 2019. At the event, series scriptwriter Yukie Sugawara described the prospect of a fourth season of "Overlord" as "extremely likely" (in so many words, given that her statement was in Japanese and translated into German for the attendant audience). A Reddit user who has recounted this incident also explained that after that statement made the rounds online, many framed it as confirmation of a new season before rescinding such claims. An earlier Reddit post linking directly to Sugawara's statement, for example, has since been deleted. Nevertheless, though it's not an official confirmation, Sugawara is on record as, at the very least, anticipating "Overlord" Season 4 at some point in the future.
Furthermore, the light novel series on which "Overlord" is based remains extremely popular in Japan. Volume 14 of the series ranked third in light novel sales for the first half of 2020, for example, behind only novelizations of the massively popular Demon Slayer series. Given that "Overlord" is so popular in light novel format, it follows that a new season of the anime could still attain a similar degree of success. That said, given the recent radio silence, Season 4 is unlikely to be released until 2022 at the absolute earliest.
What will be the plot of Overlord Season 4?
In the first episode of "Overlord," a human boy named Momonga is transported into the world of an MMORPG video game (think "RuneScape"). Instead of merely controlling his character, named Ainz Ooal Gown, Momonga in essence becomes Ainz. That said, Momonga was a skilled player, and Ainz is a powerful character within the game's world of YGGDRASIL. He then begins exploring YGGDRASIL's world for the first time as a fantastical necromancer rather than a human being playing a video game.
By the end of "Overlord" Season 3, Ainz has committed to ruling his own kingdom called the Sorcerer Kingdom. In subsequent storylines in the "Overlord" light novel series, Ainz's trials and tribulations as the ruler of his own kingdom more or less become the focus of the series moving forward. Volume 10 of the light novel series, which should serve as the source material for the beginning of Season 4, also introduces the rulers of rival nations with whom Ainz must now either fight or make peace, given his foray into fantasy politics.
Who will make up the cast of Overlord Season 4?
Without official word of "Overlord" Season 4, it's impossible to confirm the voice acting talent that will be featured in the series' upcoming season, should it ever be made. That said, if the series does return, it will most likely feature the same voices that have defined the series thus far.
Satoshi Hino provides the voice of Ainz, and is the only actor to appear in every episode of the series to date. Arguably the most notable role voiced by Hino is that of Sai from "Naruto." He's also the voice behind team captain Daichi in the volleyball anime "Haikyuu!!" and the fiery samurai Kyojuro in "Demon Slayer."
Yumi Hara provides the voice of Ainz's closest NPC ally, Albedo. Her prior acting work includes roles in anime series like "Val x Love" and video games like the upcoming "NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139..."
Rounding out the central cast are Masayuki Kato as demon NPC Demiurge, Sumire Uesaka as the vampire Shalltear Bloodfallen, Yumi Uchiyama as Mare Bello Fiore, and Emiri Kato as Aura Bella Fiora. Theoretically, we can expect all of these voice actors to return should "Overlord" Season 4 ever see the light of day.